Key moment: Timoci Matanavou's fumble set up Edinburgh's try
Edinburgh became the first Scottish side to qualify for the Heineken Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a 19-14 win over Toulouse in their quarter-final at Murrayfield.
The home side overturned a four-point half time deficit to beat the four-time champions for just the second time in twelve games to set up a semi-final against either Munster or Ulster in Dublin.
The boot of Greig Laidlaw and a titanic defensive effort proved decisive in a momentous victory.
The hosts got off to the perfect start when scrum-half Mike Blair scored in the second minute. Edinburgh profited from Toulouse indecision under a high ball and when Timoci Matanavou failed to handle Laidlaw's bomb, Blair pounced on the loose ball to crash over.
Laidlaw added the conversion but the visitors were quick to reply as Lionel Beauxis opened their account from the kicking tee after four minutes.
The French international fly-half then narrowed the gap to a single point as the Toulouse pack began to impose themselves.
The wheels then came off the Edinburgh bus as Allan Jacobsen and Ross Rennie were shown yellow cards for cynical penalties within two minutes of each other.
Beauxis's third penalty put Toulouse ahead and two minutes later Fijian flyer Matanavou grabbed their only try with a wonderful solo effort to score from 60 metres out, dodging countless tacklers in midfield and then turning on the gas to score his eighth try of this season's competition.
The French side were unable to further profit from their numerical advantage and Laidlaw kept his team in touch just before the interval with a 30 metre drop-goal to leave the scores at 14-10 at half-time.
The tables turned early in the second period when Toulouse hooker William Servat saw yellow for being off-side. Laidlaw found the mark and then added another penalty to put Edinburgh ahead on the 50-minute mark.
The four-time champions had an opportunity to strike back instantly, but Beauxis suffered his third miss of the afternoon.
Toulouse pushed hard in the closing minutes but an 80th-minute penalty from Laidlaw secured an historic victory in front of 37,881 spectators, a record crowd for a quarter-final in Britain.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Try: Blair
Con: Laidlaw
Pens: Laidlaw 3
Drop: Laidlaw
For Toulouse:
Try: Matanavou
Pens: Beauxis 3
Yellow cards: Jacobsen (Edinburgh - 25th min); Rennie (Edinburgh - 27th min); Servat (Toulouse - 45th min)
Edinburgh: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 9 Mike Blair, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Stuart McInally, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Phil Godman, 23 Jim Thompson.
Toulouse: 15 Yannick Jauzion, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yann David , 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles , 7 Thierry Dusautoir (capt), 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Daan Human, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Clément Poitrenaud, 22 Yannick Nyanga, 23 Gillian Galan,
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Nigel Owens
Comments
Quinners says...
It was a great result. Definitely Toulouse weren't at their best, but then who beats them when they are. Edinburgh contained them well. The Toulouse centres looked powerful and were totally under utilised but again that's beauxis fault he was very poor. Visser again looked very useful and Edinburgh back row were very effective. Hopefully Edinburgh can use this to build momentum be great to have something to believe in for all Scottish rugby!!
Posted 23:15 09th April 2012
gauca says...
Well done Edinburgh, excellent win for scottish rugby, I attended this game/city, Edinburgh and the fans were very humble and welcoming. Good Luck in Dublin.
For Toulouse I am affraid we have been found wanting in the high ball stakes all campaign, eventually this was going to cost us at some stage, however this game was a shot to nothing as we were lucky to be there anyway.
Posted 21:25 08th April 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Well done Edinburgh, they deserved it for their teamwork and heart. No excuses Toulouse, they had 15-13 players at one time and didn't put there foot on the gas. If Toulouse have a problem its easing off when they think they can win. Edinburgh now have turned them over twice. Toulouse on paper were by far the stronger both starting and on the bench. Noves must be totally hacked off, Toulouse have slackened off knowing they have virtually got the French playoffs in the bag, but their failure to lift themselves for this one has cost them dear. The next round however will be a different ballgame but celebrate while you can Edinburgh you totally deserve that one. As for Pearson, it was no suprise to me that he was dropped from the International panel, but he was not responsible for Toulouses failure to play at the top level.
Posted 12:11 08th April 2012
RobinMasters says...
Boring! Both tries accidental, and kicking was pathetic all the way. Toulouse actually never turned up. Boring!
Posted 10:02 08th April 2012
carpelone says...
This is the evidence that Andy Robinson must go. Well done Edinburgh, restore some pride for Scottish rugby.
Awful performance by Toulouse, I can still play better as a full back than Jauzion.
But can anybody tell me what Owens thinks when he administers the scrums. I thought that he got all of them wrong, especially the first ones when I feared that Edinburgh's first row should have been penalised.
Posted 08:31 08th April 2012
Celtictenor says...
Well done Edinburgh, you stuck at it, and just about deserved it. But I also have to agree with JeanLuc - my countryman Nigel is not the good all-round referee he used to be, and hasn't been for a while
Posted 06:36 08th April 2012
crunchfit says...
2nd week in a row where Owens has completely failed to referee the scrum. He was truly pathetic last week and he was a joke today. How can he be so inadequate at refereeing this part of the game? I can't believe how lacking he is in this area.
Posted 22:27 07th April 2012
alanatleeds says...
A richly deserved victory for Edinburgh! I thought that they could have had a more convincincing score had the ball bounced more kindly in the opposition 22 area and if the ref had penalised the "accidental" trip. Toulouse were below par and can't complain.
Posted 22:01 07th April 2012
scot_rsa says...
Well done Edinburgh, every player should be proud. Good to see even the French fans accept we were the better side on the park. My impression, admittedly from the south stand, was that our scrum went well in the first half only to fade after the break. Can't comment on ref decisions until I've seen the replay but Edinburgh definitely looked sharper, Laidlaw a lot more fleet-footed than Beauxis who just never seemed to ignite their backline. Anyway, a deserved win. Massive for Edinburgh rugby, massive for Scotland (and the SRU coffers)!
Posted 19:28 07th April 2012
NHsaints says...
Well done Edinburgh, I'm not surprised...tolouse have been creaking in the HC and without Medard to save them the blushes it was always going to be a tight game...
Posted 19:23 07th April 2012
jgainzarain says...
Go Edinburgh!!!
Posted 17:56 07th April 2012
makemehappy says...
That game is easily summarised by two poor displays, and a ref who somehow thought that Toulouse should be penalised all the time in the scrum. Obviously Edinburgh were well beaten in the scrum and that should have been the difference between the two teams - not the otherway around!
Posted 17:33 07th April 2012
munster13 says...
yes!!!!
Posted 17:21 07th April 2012
stugur says...
I am so proud of of edi, Titanic performance by, essentially the team that lost to Italy
Posted 17:20 07th April 2012